Sessions used his campaign funds for RNC trip, where he talked to Russian ambassador

By Paul Sonne, Rebecca Ballhaus, Carol E. Lee

Published: Mar 2, 2017 10:58 pm ET

Question over whether Sessions was acting as senator or campaign adviser

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he’d recuse himself from an investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.

The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia’s ambassador at an event during last year’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Sessions paid for convention travel expenses out of his own political funds and he spoke about Donald Trump’s campaign at the event, according to a person at the event and campaign-finance records.

Sessions made comments related to Trump’s presidential campaign at a Heritage Foundation event during the Republican convention in July, when he met with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, according to a person at the event in Cleveland.

Sessions to Recuse Self From Trump Campaign Probes

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions denied that he led misled lawmakers about his contacts with a Russian official and said he will recuse himself from any investigation related to the Trump presidential campaign. Photo: Getty

Sessions on Thursday said he would recuse himself from involvement in any probe related to the 2016 presidential campaign, following disclosures that he met with the Russian ambassador during the convention, and later in his Senate office in Washington.

Representatives for the White House and Sessions have defended his failure to disclose his contacts with the Russian ambassador by arguing that the exchanges occurred in his capacity as a U.S. senator, rather than as a campaign official.